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Anthony Wilson

Wilson’s first recording— Anthony Wilson (1997) — featured a nine-piece “little big band” and garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Large Ensemble Jazz Recording. It was followed by Goat Hill Junket (1998), and Adult Themes (2000). His fourth recording with the nonet, Power of Nine (2006) was included in the New Yorker’s roundup of that year’s top-ten jazz albums.

Born in Los Angeles, Wilson is the son of the late jazz trumpeter and bandleader Gerald Wilson. That lineage has deeply informed his creative trajectory, compositional choices, instrumental groupings and the wide-ranging discography that blooms out of them. Wilson’s acclaimed collection of organ-trio albums — Our Gang (2001) and Savivity (2005), with Hammond organist Joe Bagg and drummer Mark Ferber, and later Jack of Hearts (2009), featuring Larry Goldings on organ, and alternating drummers Jim Keltner and Jeff Hamilton, reimagine and reframe post-bop, soul-inflected jazz.

An inventive soloist and sensitive accompanist, Wilson has provided texture and authority both on stage and in recording sessions for jazz legends such as Ron Carter, Mose Allison, Bobby Hutcherson, Madeleine Peyroux, Bennie Wallace, Joe Sample, Al Jarreau, Harold Land, the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. Since the late 1980s he has been a member of his father’s jazz orchestra, assuming the leadership of the ensemble since the maestro’s passing in 2014.

While his footing is firmly in the jazz idiom, Wilson pivots with ease into other genres. Over the last decade, he’s been part of sessions and performances with a diverse roster of artists, including Paul McCartney, Willie Nelson, Leon Russell, Aaron Neville, and Barbra Streisand. In 2009, he arranged and orchestrated Brazilian composer Ivan Lins’ “Love Dance” for Ms. Streisand’s grammy-nominated album, Love is the Answer.

Since 2001, he has been a core component of Diana Krall’s quartet, after joining her for a series of concerts in Paris at the Olympia Theater which became the Grammy-winning recording and concert film Live in Paris (2002).

A gifted composer as well, Wilson, while still in his 20s, won the Thelonious Monk Institute International Composers’ Competition in 1995. Since then he has received commissions from IAJE, the Henry Mancini Institute, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association and the luthier John Monteleone — for whom Wilson composed “Seasons,” a song cycle for a quartet of Monteleone’s handcrafted instruments called “The Four Seasons.” The premiere performance of the piece, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, coincided with the Met’s exhibition “Guitar Heroes” in 2011. That same year Wilson released Campo Belo, a collection of original songs recorded in São Paulo, which partnered him with three of Brazil’s up-and-coming musicians, pianist André Mehmari, drummer Edu Riberio and bassist Guto Wirtti.

The Jazz Loft Presents The John Monteleone Art of the Guitar Festival: The Anthony Wilson Organ Trio

by Dan Bilawsky
August 6, 2024

When summer settles in, jazz fans turn their focus toward festivals. No stranger to this scenario, The Jazz Loft, in Stony Brook, NY, draws plenty of ears and cheers with its John Monteleone Art of the Guitar Festival. A celebration of a master luthier, his instruments and those who wield them, this eagerly anticipated event offers serious archtop allure. Previous editions have included appearances from the likes of John Pizzarelli, Russell Malone, Dario Napoli, Vinny Raniolo, and Ratko Zjaca, among ...

Album Review

Natalie Jacob: Sooner Or Later

Read "Sooner Or Later" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
August 2, 2024

Sooner Or Later is jazz vocalist Natalie Jacob's debut release. It is a refreshing addition to the jazz landscape, blending classic Great American Songbook tunes and bossa nova standards. Produced by Grammy Award winner Scotty Barnhart, the album benefits from the contributions of an outstanding ensemble, including Barnhart on trumpet, pianist Tamir Hendelman, guitarist Anthony Wilson, bassist Carlitos Del Puerto, drummer Clayton Cameron and percussionist Kevin Winard. This all-star lineup created a rich backdrop for Jacob's compelling vocal interpretations.

Album Review

Jo Harrop: The Path of a Tear

Read "The Path of a Tear" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
July 11, 2024

The Path of a Tear from UK vocalist Jo Harrop contains eleven fine selections that tell tales of love and its vagaries and vulnerabilities. Opener “Beautiful Fools" is moderately-paced, a laid-back groove with a great deal of presence. Harrop dances across the poignant lyrics. Anthony Wilson delivers an appropriately tasty guitar solo. “Whiskey or the Truth," slow and soulful, has all the earmarks, phrasing and chord progression of a soulful country-gospel tune. There is imagery presented in both the title ...

Album Review

Jo Harrop: The Path of a Tear

Read "The Path of a Tear" reviewed by John Eyles

by John Eyles
June 25, 2024

The Path of a Tear is Durham-born singer and songwriter Jo Harrop's fifth album release on the Lateralize label, which was established in 2018. Harrop's first album was Songs For The Late Hours (Lateralize, 2019), a download-only release on which she and her guitar, piano and bass trio arranged and played a selection of Tin Pan Alley songs, including the Gershwins' “How Long Has This Been Going On," which showcased Harrop's voice well. Her second album, the first ...

Album Review

Ivan Lins: My Heart Speaks

Read "My Heart Speaks" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
October 4, 2023

Ivan Lins is a Brazilian music legend and multiple Latin Grammy Award winner who has consistently delivered a unique blend of bossa nova, jazz and pop throughout his career. In this first release in over ten years, entitled My Heart Speaks, Lins performs rare gems from his catalogue backed by the Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra along with guest appearances from vocalists Dianne Reeves, Jane Monheit and newcomer Tawanda, as well as trumpeter Randy Brecker. The eleven songs ...

Album Review

Dan Schnelle: Shine Thru

Read "Shine Thru" reviewed by Jerome Wilson

by Jerome Wilson
July 17, 2022

Dan Schnelle is a drummer on the Los Angeles music scene who has played in a lot of contexts. That is reflected in his first album which delves into different shades of jazz-rock with traces of exotica and electronic music in the margins. “Unknown Territory" and “Spaceman Spiff" are angular pieces that spotlight the atmospheric keyboards of Jeff Babko and the electric guitar of Anthony Wilson with the ethereal vibe of a vintage science-fiction soundtrack. “Shine Thru" ...

Album Review

Dan Schnelle: Shine Thru

Read "Shine Thru" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
July 10, 2022

This debut album from one of the West Coast's go-to drummers delivers an empyrean escape while offering a clear look at the impressive inner workings of a beautiful mind in motion. Those who know Dan Schnelle as a sideman will recognize his master musicianship right off the bat as he lays the foundation for this absorbing music, but they'll probably also come to realize that there's far more to the man than his stick work. In crafting a program built ...

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